I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 467 Debates broke out in Chang'an, and Confucian scholars fought among themselves: Will the Han Dynasty die in the imperial examination?
At noon on the 25th of the first lunar month of the first year of Dingxin, in the east of Chang'an City, outside the city gate, there was a bustle of people, with more than a hundred people gathered.

Looking around, we can see that they are all Confucian scholars, all of whom are talented and talented people: there are both great Confucians like Wei Xian and many young Ph.D. disciples.

Although no one was directing the ordering, the Confucian scholars stood in an orderly manner.

Those with high reputation are in the front, those with low reputation are in the back; those with high knowledge stand on the right, and those with low knowledge sit on the left.

There is an order of superiority and inferiority, distinction between elder and younger, and everything conforms to Confucian etiquette.

At the top of the list are the 70-year-old scholars Wei Xian, Wang Shi and Hou Cang.

Behind them are Xue Guangde and Tian Wangsun, who are about 50 and [-] years old and other scholars.

Behind them are Confucian scholars in their prime, such as Wei Xuancheng and Liu Anmin, who are in their 30s.

The ones left at the end were naturally Liang Qiuhe, PhD disciples in their early twenties and the emperor's official.

But whether they were standing in front or behind, whether they were standing on the left or on the right, everyone was waiting eagerly.

They put their feet up and stretched their necks, following the endless official road in the east city wall, looking far into the distance with pious expressions on their faces.

Today, all the Confucian scholars naturally came to welcome Kong Ba, the twelfth generation grandson of Zhongni, who was admonishing the doctor.

Yesterday, the Confucian scholars in Chang'an City received news that Kong Ba and his disciples had settled near Baqiao and would be able to enter Chang'an City at noon today.

The only one in the world who could make the Confucian scholars in Chang'an City wait so respectfully was Kong Ba.

Not only because Kong Ba was very talented and knowledgeable, but also because he had a profound understanding of the classics, but also because he had a blood relationship with Zhong Ni.

……

The weather in Sanfu has been particularly good these days. The sun is high in the sky and the sky is blue, with only a few white clouds as embellishments.

The warm spring breeze blows from the east day and night, making everything in the world that has been dormant all winter begin to come to life.

Farmers have begun to plow the ground to raise seedlings, animals have begun to run around in the wilderness, and trees and flowers have also sprouted some new green...

Except for some ice shards hidden in the darkness of the river ditch, the coldness of the severe winter is almost invisible.

Many changes that occurred this winter have been gradually forgotten by people.

Spring has come, who is willing to think about those cold, terrifying and bloody things?

Like the past few days, today is still an excellent weather.

The Confucian scholars arrived at the city gate early and have been waiting for more than an hour.

During this time, many freshly painted security vehicles hurried out of the city gate.

Although the curtains on the carriage were tightly covered, the aroma and gentle smiles passing by made the Confucian scholars tremble.

Presumably they were the daughters of a wealthy family who went on an outing in the east city. They had been suffocating in the mansion all winter, and they could finally breathe some air.

Older Confucian scholars can naturally turn a blind eye to these Anche, but young Confucian scholars who are young and unmarried will follow these Anche and stay with them for a long time.

It wasn't until these carriages were blurred out of sight that they couldn't help but retract their sight after sighing.

All things are in full bloom, including the human heart.

However, although everything in this spring day is beautiful, there is an invisible dark cloud hovering in the hearts of many Confucian scholars.

Because, for the first time, they experienced the fear of being precarious.

Three or four days ago, news spread in the city of Chang'an that the emperor was going to "abolish the imperial examinations, change the recruitment system, cut the number of appointed officials, and open the imperial examinations."

Although the emperor's edict has not yet been posted on the notice booths everywhere, all signs indicate that the matter is ready to go.

Moreover, in the new issue of "Chang'an Monthly" published in the past few days, those easy-to-understand narrative articles have begun to "broadcast" overtly and covertly.

"Huo Guang's presumption of power stems from the system of appointing sons", "Promoting filial piety and honest fathers to live apart; promoting talented people without knowing the book", "On the conquest and establishment of the system and the chaos of cronyism", "The words of the saints should be unified"...

All smart people can see that as long as the emperor can determine the current version of the scriptures during the Shiqu Pavilion debate, the imperial edict to implement the imperial examination system will be posted immediately.

By then, the fate of Confucian scholars and officials all over the world will have irreversibly changed.

This news naturally caused an uproar among Confucian scholars, and for a time it became the focus of discussion among Confucian scholars on the streets.

Confucian scholars who came from aristocratic families often felt aggrieved by this and spoke wildly about the New Deal. Many Confucian scholars even uttered arrogant words in public, cursing that "the great Han died in the imperial examination."

But those Confucian scholars who came from small families or even humble backgrounds looked forward to the imperial examination system very much.

These Confucian scholars, whose family wealth was less than [-] yuan, were naturally considered wealthy compared with farmers and craftsmen.

However, they have no connections in the court and no money to make friends and cling to people everywhere. It is not possible for them to find a future through "recruitment", "conquest" and "inspection".

After studying the Confucian classics for more than ten years, I was unable to become an official. Even if I became an official, I could only start from the humblest position of assistant envoy and doushi.From now on, I can only keep working hard and wait for my rank to slowly rise.

Confucian scholars who were even more unlucky could either open a monastery as a lecturer and live off the gifts given by their disciples; or they could join a wealthy family and become mere disciples.

Those who excel in learning can become officials. This is still a privilege for a very small number of people - they have the same level of economic management and the same moral character, but their futures are different because of their different backgrounds.

What's more, if you come from an ordinary family, it is extremely difficult to "learn and excel".

Although the Analects of Confucius greatly praised Yan Hui for "having a basketful of food and a ladle of drink, and never changing his joy in the back alleys", the great Confucian scholars had so many scholars in front of them that it was impossible for everyone to teach him.

If they had a choice, the great Confucians would definitely prefer to teach those "children of good families" who were more well-off.

If you can't "learn and excel", it is naturally impossible to "become an official".

But if the emperor really implemented the imperial examination system today, the situation would be very different.

No matter how old your family is, no matter who you studied with, no matter whether your ancestors were Jiuqing or rural landlords, you can compete in the imperial examination system.

The starting point for becoming an official is either [-] shi or [-] shi—children of wealthy families may look down upon it, but it is a good path for ordinary Confucian scholars.

The most important thing is the word "fairness".

As a result, the two groups of Confucian scholars expressed their own opinions, which turned into a quarrel - and even often clashed.

From Shangguanli to Qili, from Beiquejiadi to Beichengguo... Confucian scholars wearing Confucian crowns were arguing in every corner.

In order to gain the support of their colleagues, the Confucian scholars picked out two words from the "Chang'an Monthly" as their own labels.

And these two words are common people and gentry.

These two classes, which should not have "appeared" so early, arrived in Han Dynasty early by chance.

The common people and the gentry are roughly divided by a family income of [-] yuan. Those below are the common people, and those above are the gentry.

The former accounted for more than [-]% of the population, while the latter accounted for only [-]%.

Judging from the number of people, the common people had the upper hand; judging from the power they held, the gentry won.

……

At this time, these Confucian scholars gathered outside the city gate were all the best and the main force in this debate.

They had been waiting here for an hour, and they could keep quiet at first, but when they got tired and bored, they started arguing with the people around them again.

At first, it was just the young Confucian scholar standing at the back who was "boasting", but soon, the argument spread to the front like a wave.

Among the Confucian scholars present, more and more people joined the debate.

At first, due to the presence of great Confucians such as Wang Shi, Hou Cang and Wei Xian in front of them, the Confucian scholars did not dare to make a loud noise and kept their voices down as much as possible when arguing.

But suddenly, a loud voice suddenly emerged from the crowd.

"In my opinion, it is a great act of benevolence and kindness for the county magistrate to open the imperial examination." The person who said this is called Shi Yu, who is a leader among the younger generation of Confucian scholars.

He came from a humble background, his father died when he was young, and his mother took him to remarry someone else. The family probably didn't even have ten thousand yuan, let alone one hundred thousand yuan.

Although he was unlucky at a young age, Shi Yu was extremely intelligent. After reading the scriptures, he showed a very high level of understanding.

When he was 13 years old, he was recommended step by step by the three elders and Confucian teachers in the village to Tian Wangsun, a doctorate in the "Book of Changes", and became a doctoral disciple in Taixue.

In the next ten years, he became the leader among this generation of Confucian scholars.

Shi Yu was good at reading scriptures, he was a bold and heroic man, and he was a good swordsman. Confucian scholars of his generation praised him for having "the legacy of Zilu".

In the recent debate in Chang'an City, Shi Yu naturally became a leading figure among the common people.

As soon as Shi Yu finished speaking, there was a quarrelsome sneer from the crowd around him.

"Hmph, Mr. Shi has had several bowls of beans and rice in his stomach today, and he actually dares to make such a loud noise."

The surrounding Confucian scholars looked around and soon saw two young Confucian scholars wearing silk and satin not far away, looking at Shi Yan with contempt.

All the Confucian scholars immediately recognized these two people. One of them was named Liang Qiuhe and the other was named Meng Xi - they were both disciples of Prince Tian.

For a while, the debate in the room gradually subsided, and some people even faintly retreated, leaving a small space for the three people who spoke.

It seems that these "Tianmen Three Heroes" are going to have another debate today.

Others can only stand aside.

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(End of this chapter)